At NATO summit, Albanian PM to seek aid for earthquake-hit areas

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced here on Tuesday that he will call for aid for the country's earthquake-hit areas on the sidelines of the ongoing NATO summit in London.

Through a video posted on Facebook, Rama informed the people, that he is leaving for London to attend the NATO summit on December 3 and 4.

Rama said he will use the NATO summit to speak closely with friends and colleagues, NATO presidents and prime ministers and call for aid for Albania to overcome the difficult consequences created by the deadly earthquake that hit the country on November 26.

"When the summit is over, I will stop in Rome to attend the Italian TV show 'Door to Door' to seek solidarity from 'our second home' Italy," Rama said.

The Albanian government has called on the international community for financial aid and expert assistance, saying it does not have sufficient capabilities of doing it alone.

Defence Minister Olta Xhacka declared on Monday that "the hardest part of this situation starts now because the material damage is really big."

According to preliminary figures given by the authorities, around 7,900 buildings were damaged countrywide by the 6.4 quake on the Richter Scale that has claimed 51 lives.

The worst affected areas were the port city of Durres and the nearby northern town of Thumane.